Unknowing Pair In The Fair
by N0raDrake
Summary: The Garrison Trio visits the Naltinian fair after saving the planet Naltini from the Galra. Banter and craziness ensues. Hunk plays best wingman, Lance is over the moon, and Pidge is confused. Somehow, it all works out.


**This story was brought to you by my sister, who challenged me to write romance for once in my life.**

 **I do not own the cover art or Voltron: Legendary Defender.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"Can you believe it? Can you believe it? _I_ can't believe it!"

Pidge rolled her eyes as Lance proceeded to nearly throw himself off the hover vehicle by flailing around so much. His eyes gleamed like a kid in a candy store and a grin stretched across his face from ear to ear.

"Lance, calm down." Hunk said, exasperated, clutching his best friend's arm if he were to almost fall again.

"Calm down?" Lance shouted, wrenching his arm from Hunk's grip to throw his hands up and causing the hover vehicle to rock dangerously. Pidge swore the Naltinian driver was side-eyeing him _very_ hard. "Hunk, we're going to a fair! A _fair!_ Do you know how long it's been since we've seen a fair or anything resembling one?"

Pidge and Hunk exchanged glances.

"Exactly! A _long_ time!"

"It's just a fair, Lance." Pidge said, eyeing the something that strangely resembled a Ferris wheel in the distance.

Lance gasped, hand flying to his chest, feigning hurt. "Just a fair? Pidge, have you ever been to one before?"

"Psh, of course I have!" Pidge snapped, crossing her arms.

"Oh yeah, and how old were you?"

Pidge averted her gaze, knowing all too well he had that _stupid_ smile on his face. A finger prodded her shoulder impatiently.

"Well?"

She scowled and batted his hand away. "I was five."

" _Five?_ " Both Hunk and Lance exclaimed.

Heat began rising to her cheeks. "Yes, I was five! So what? All a fair is is screaming children and cotton candy and rides that aren't even properly maintained!"

"Pidge," Hunk said slowly, "a fair is a huge part of Naltinian culture. I'm pretty sure they keep theirs properly maintained."

"If the king hadn't specifically requested our attendance to this, would you not have gone?" Lance asked. His question was harmless enough, but Pidge had known him for long enough to be able to read the underlying hurt in it. She stammered to amend her words.

"O-Of course I would've gone! It's not like I _want_ to sit in a bunch of diplomatic meetings until the end of time. Besides, you guys seemed so excited..." she trailed off, fidgeting in her seat.

"Aww, does Pidgey-Widgey want to spend time with us?" Lance teased, but she caught how his face visibly brightened at her explanation. His finger was back at prodding her shoulder again. Pidge slapped it away.

"Shut up!"

Hunk cooed, "Aww, you're so cute!" Pidge squeaked as he scooped her up in his arms, squeezing her tightly to his chest.

"Hunk, stop! My glasses are going to fall off!" she protested.

Even though it was futile because _no one_ could escape Hunk's bear hugs, she pounded her fists at him. An inexplicable warmth spread across her chest, mixing with her embarrassment.

"Don't worry, I'll catch them." A mocha hand descended upon her face. She lurched forward and licked it. The hand jerked back.

"Ack! Pidge, did you just _lick_ my hand?" Lance gaped at her in horror, scrubbing his hand on his pants.

"Get your filthy hands away of me."

"If my hands are filthy, then why did you just lick them?"

"Yeah, Pidge, I'm pretty sure Lance cleans _and_ moisturizes his hands at least twice a day."

Pidge rolled her eyes. "I didn't-"

Their Naltinian driver cleared his throat. Hunk, Lance, and Pidge all froze.

"We have arrived." he said curtly.

Hunk's arms loosened and Pidge scrambled to get out of the hover vehicle. Wow, what a sight they must've been. Three Paladins of Voltron, just saved Naltini from invading Galra, making fools of themselves in a hover vehicle on their way to a respected visit to the fair that was obviously an integral part of the Naltinian culture. Pidge felt like an idiot. That was stupid. Not to mention rude.

"Thank you." Hunk managed for the three of them when they were safely on the ground.

The Naltinian driver eyed them, before nodding. He spun his hover vehicle around and took off in a plume of dust and smoke.

"Well, we're idiots." Pidge said simply.

"Yeah, probably not our best performance." Lance agreed, rubbing at the back of his neck.

"Hopefully he doesn't report us to the king." Hunk said as they began walking towards the entrance. "Shiro would kill us."

Lance snorted. "Not if Allura does first."

"Well," Pidge said, stepping ahead and turning to face them. "The fair is important to the Naltinians, right? If we show them that we're having a good time and enjoying their fair, then maybe we can avoid getting blasted out of an airlock."

"That's... actually not a bad idea." Hunk said, eyes brightening.

Lance laughed. "Pidge and bad ideas? Those words never go together."

Pidge could feel a blush coloring her cheeks and she turned away from them, hoping they - or Lance - wouldn't notice. She pointed her finger authoritatively in front of her, marching forward as if she were on a mission. "Onwards, cadets! Operation: Have Fun is a go!"

The three of them all laughed that time and made their way towards the fair.

* * *

Despite her encouragement speech, Hunk bailed on them within the first few minutes.

"I'm going to stop by the food court." he announced after they left a stall with a new plushie in tow.

Lance looked up from the blue elephant-rhino hybrid of a stuff animal he'd been examining. "Dude, you're ditching us already?"

Hunk held his hands up in defense. "You know me and alien cuisine. Can't get enough." he tilted his head. "Unless, both of you guys are already hungry?"

"Nah, I'm good." Lance said, dropping the plushie from his face.

Hunk turned an expectant eye at Pidge. She waved her hand. "Go have fun, Hunk. That's the mission, remember?"

Hunk grinned. "You guys are the best." He pointed at the plush dangling from Lance's hand. "Watch Rebo for me, yeah?"

"Seriously, dude? You name him after that guy?" Lance shook his head in dismay, but it was hard to miss the smile on his face.

"Who are you to talk? Kaltenecker?"

"We didn't even name her!" Pidge interjected in Lance's defense.

Hunk rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, okay, just gang up on me then. Well," he thumbed behind him, towards the food court. "I'm off. See you guys later!"

Pidge shouted her own goodbye back at him, turning around to see where to go next, and pretending not to catch the quick wink Hunk sent to Lance when she did.

* * *

"Is that what I think it is."

Pidge raised an eyebrow at the stunned boy beside her. "What else does it look like to you? A teleduv?"

Lance _squealed_. Full on, high-pitched _squealed_. Pidge frowned at him. "Are you a three year old?"

"Pidge," Lance breathed, trying to get himself under control. He was turning red in the face, probably from the lack of oxygen. "Do you not know what that is? It's a _merry-go-round!_ Pidge, they have a _merry-go-round!_ "

"You mean a carousel?"

"They're the same thing, Pidge! _Dios_ ," he laughed, hiding his face in his hands, Rebo tucked under his shoulder. "you have no idea how many times my sisters begged me to ride with them. This was their favorite ride." his voice wavered at the end.

Pidge's heart twinged. She knew he dealt with homesickness a lot, more than any of them really. She missed her mom so much it _hurt_ , she couldn't imagine what it was like for Lance to have a whole family at home wondering what happened to him, if he was alive or not. The topics of home and Earth in general were avoided, but in the rare occasion it did pop up, it was usually Lance reminiscing about his time with his siblings.

She tugged at his sleeve, concern getting the better of her. "You okay?"

Lance swiped at his eyes, face red with embarrassment. "Yeah. I'm fine. Hit me pretty hard there for a second, you know?"

Pidge knew all too well. She nodded, fingers playing with the hem of her shirt. "So, uh... you want to ride it with me?"

The words flew out of her mouth like water to a waterfall and her eyes widened. Lance's eyes widened too.

"Really?" he asked, voice full of disbelief.

"Uh..." Pidge could feel blood rushing to her cheeks. God, how many times can a girl blush in a day? "Is it that hard to believe?"

"Pidge, you just said on the way here that you thought the rides weren't properly maintained. I thought you didn't want to go on any."

Pidge could feel herself growing redder. "Well, maybe I do! Besides, your sisters liked them so they can't be all that bad..."

A huge grin overtook Lance's face and her heart fluttered. "Okay, then!"

He grabbed her hand - as if Pidge's face wasn't already on fire - and tugged her towards the ride, already babbling on about something that she couldn't hear over the blood roaring in her ears. His hand was warm and almost entirely encompassed hers, and Hunk was right, he must've moisturized daily because his skin was _soft_. Despite that however, she could still feel the rough calluses of his fingers, especially his thumb and index finger, no doubt from his bayard.

"I call dibs on the horse on the outside!" Lance yelled when she finally got her emotions under control.

The both of them flashed their VIP cards at the employees, a generous gift from the king, and entered the ride.

Lance frowned. "Well, maybe not _horse_ but," he waved a hand at the metal structure, "whatever _this_ is."

Pidge laughed. "I think instead of horses, they're Ortolans." she indicated to the stuffed animal under Lance's arm.

"Right, right, I still don't know why Hunk named his plushie after that character."

Pidge laughed again.

"Pidge, I think my legs are too long for this." Lance whined once they boarded their Ortolans, shoes brushing the platform from where his legs dangled. "And these things don't have foot hooks."

"Oh, stop whining, you big baby." Pidge droned, her own toes barely brushing the bottom of the animal's sides.

"You're just jealous of my height."

The carousel began to move, a pleasant music jingle playing over the speakers.

Pidge raised Rebo, who'd been shoved into her arms earlier, eyes glinting. "Do you want me to deck you with this? Because I will."

Lance raised his hands in surrender, balancing perfectly on his moving animal. "Please no. I don't want to explain to Hunk why Rebo has an ear torn off. I'll be eating food goo for a month, and that might as well be death."

Pidge smirked, lowering the toy. "Thought so."

The ride finished after a few more circles (and Rebo may have been tossed like a hot potato between the both of them - just for fun) and they got off satisfied.

"That was fun." Pidge remarked, almost like an afterthought, as they mingled with the crowd.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." Lance piped happily. He looped an arm around her shoulders, and pointed to something in the distance. "How about we try something a bit more wild?"

Pidge followed his finger to a giant roller coaster, or what _looked_ like a giant roller coaster, just way more elaborate and a lot more _dangerous_ -looking, cascading across the sky. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"We fly ten thousand year old, sentient Lions who we flip and barrel roll nearly every day, and you want to go on a _roller coaster?_ "

"Okay, first off, it doesn't feel the same, and second off, do you _see_ those loops? Earth never had something that high, it'd be crazy _not_ to try it!"

Pidge rolled her eyes and shrugged off his arm. "Okay, fine, but you're holding Rebo this time." she shoved the plush toy at his chest.

"Wha- hey! You didn't even hold him for that long! And we tossed him around on the merry-go-round, so _technically_ , I've been holding him for two thirds of the time."

Pidge crossed her arms. "You really want to get _technical_ with me?"

Lance's eyes flashed sharp and he grinned. "Bring it on, pinto bean."

* * *

A roller coaster ride later, Pidge and Lance found themselves stumbling into the food court, stomachs growling and begging for sustenance. They found Hunk at a food stall, calling out orders and checking the food before they were handed out to customers.

Pidge plopped down on the stool at the counter. "Hunk, why do you ever trust Lance with your stuff? He nearly loss Rebo."

"I was not going to loose him!" Lance protested, setting himself down next to her and placing the plushie in question on the counter, who'd definitely seen better days.

Hunk raised an eyebrow from where he was examining a dish. "Oh? - Number 346! - What happened this time?"

A Naltinian wandered up to the counter to retrieve their food and Hunk handed the dish to them with an Oscar-winning smile. He then promptly spun around and placed his hands on his hips, staring Lance down.

"Well?"

Lance huffed. "We were on a roller coaster and I was holding Rebo, and then this huge loop-de-loop came and I almost dropped him. But I didn't! So what's the big deal?"

Hunk sighed and wiped his hands on his apron he'd somehow acquired. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Hey, Hunk! You're supposed to be on my side here! Besides, if you can't trust me to hold stuff, then why did you let me hold him?" Lance directed his question at Pidge specifically.

Pidge hummed, tapping her chin musingly. "I don't know, maybe because you decided to go _technical_ on me and lost the argument?"

Lance threw his hands in the air. "I can't believe I called you guys my friends."

"Hey now, let's all calm down here, okay? Rebo's not lost, so there's nothing to worry about."

"Exactly! Thank you, Hunk."

"But Pidge is right, I can't trust any of you with him. So I'll be keeping him with me until the end of the day."

Lance waved a hand dismissively. "Fine with me."

"Wait," Pidge turned to Hunk. "Why me too? Lance was the one who almost lost him!"

" _Excuse me-_ "

Hunk cut in, "It's obvious that the two of you cannot handle the responsibility. Look at this," he fondled poor Rebo's torn ear. "you guys probably played around with him, didn't you?"

"Uh..." Lance trailed off, dumbfounded.

"When the hell had that happened?" Pidge exclaimed. She turned to Lance.

"I didn't do anything!"

"It's nobody's fault, all I'm saying is that I'll be watching Rebo from now on." Hunk emphasized, making sure to meet both hers and Lance's eyes.

Pidge shook her head, huffing out a breath. "Yeah, okay, fine. But for the record, Lance and I have Kaltenecker together, so we can totally handle an elephant stuffed animal."

"Yeah, and she's perfectly happy and healthy. Isn't she, Pidge?"

"Absolutely peachy."

"And there you guys go again, ganging up on me. Even though this whole conversation started out with you two fighting." Hunk let out an exasperated sigh. "Honestly, you two act like an old, married couple."

" _What?_ " Pidge squeaked at the same time Lance yelled, " _Hunk!_ "

"I'm just saying."

Lance slid off his stool. "C'mon, Pidge. Let's leave Hunk to his food, _obviously_ he doesn't know what he's talking about." Even with his nonchalant tone, his face was bright red and he avoided her eyes. Instead, he shot Hunk one hell of a glare.

Pidge swallowed and nodded quickly. "Yep."

Hunk bided them goodbye but they were already dashing away from the food court.

"He's insane." Lance said simply when they were far away enough.

Pidge hummed. "Bat-shit crazy."

"I mean, us together? _Married?_ "

"Impossible."

"Never gonna happen."

"Nuh uh. No way."

There was silence for a stretch. It was broken by the rumble of their stomachs.

"Well, we didn't get what we wanted." Lance laughed, if a little awkward.

Unable to help herself, Pidge smiled. "I guess we kinda did sprint out of there, huh?"

"Well, the devil _was_ at our heels."

"True."

Lance's eyes gleamed. "So what do you say to cotton candy?"

* * *

Pidge wasn't going to deny it, cotton candy was _good_.

Somehow, someway, the green cotton candy tasted like peanuts - but not the dry, gross kind! The peanut cotton candy literally _melted_ in her mouth, and it was _heaven_.

Lance laughed when she asked to get another stick, he himself still on his first.

"Go ahead." he said, dropping some GAC into her palm. "Knock yourself out."

So for the third time that afternoon, she scurried over to the cotton candy stall, where she ordered another green cotton candy. As she waited for the Naltinian stall keeper to whip it up, she spotted another stall across the way. It peaked her interest.

"Here you go." the Naltinian handed her another stick of the green peanut-y goodness.

"Thank you." Pidge minded her manners, remembering her mother would kill her if she didn't, taking the stick.

She rushed back over to Lance.

"Lance!" she called. His head peeked up from his own blue swirls of sugar.

"Mmph?" he said, mouth full.

She elbowed him. "Don't speak with your mouth full." she smirked.

Lance rolled his eyes. "What is it?" he asked after swallowing.

She pointed to the stall that had caught her attention. "Look at that!"

Lance's eyes widened. "Is that a shooting game?"

"Wanna play it?" she held up the extra GAC in her hand.

Lance's eyes sparkled. "Quiznak, yes!"

They went over to the shooting stall. After they handed over their money, the Naltinian gave them the rundown of the game: you'll be handed a rifle with unlimited ammo, shoot as many targets as you can in the bullseye once they pop up. Some targets may be moving. Your prize depends on the score you rack in. You've got two minutes. No refunds.

Pidge stepped back as the Naltinian presented the rifle. She held out a hand and did a mock bow. "The sharpshooter, first."

Lance flashed her a winning grin and took the rifle, hefting it in his hands and adjusting to its weight. "Dang, this rifle is light."

The game began.

All the targets were stained with washable blue paint not even a dobash later, all struck right in the bullseye. The Naltinian gaped at them. Pidge and Lance high-fived.

"Damn, I was thinking a minute and a half. Not fifty-six seconds." Pidge said.

Lance eyed her. "I find your lack of faith disturbing."

"I think you're using that in the wrong context, Darth Vader, but yeah. I'll be sure to pick you for my paintball team."

"Think we can convince Shiro to make it a team-bonding exercise?"

"Just leave that to me. Next training session, you'll see."

"Do you two want your prize or not?" The Naltinian huffed.

They ended up taking the set of Voltron figurines for shits and giggles. Pidge commented on how they made Lance look too buff, and in return Lance retorted that the manufactures made her too tall.

"Is your girlfriend going to play or what?" The Naltinian interrupted again, annoyed.

"She's not my girlfriend." Lance said a little too quickly, and a pang of something sunk into Pidge's chest.

The Naltinian just shrugged. Even though Pidge's expertise wasn't shooting by a long shot (pun intended), her accuracy and aim were still top-tear, and she ended up taking second place in the game, right under Lance's perfect score. The bitter Naltinian muttered something under his breath about making him go out of business, before handing Pidge her prize: a box of... something.

When she asked him what it was, he said something unintelligible but reassured them that the stuff inside the box was edible, and apparently came all the way from Farbanackle, whatever that was.

She and Lance left the stall and tried the box of candies(?) together and nearly gagged when it tasted like they'd just put rocks of sawdust in their mouthes. They ended up throwing the box away and buying more cotton candy instead.

* * *

After a slightly-awkward visit back to Hunk just to drop off Lance's prize, they ventured back out into the fair once more. It was rapidly approaching nightfall and Pidge guessed they had to return to the Castle soon lest Shiro got worried. Lance's shake of his head and mutter of "overbearing space dad" had her doubling over with laughter.

"What do you say we try the Ferris wheel?"

Pidge glanced up at Lance, but it was too dark to see his face clearly. She tried to seem nonchalant, "Really?"

"Yeah. So we can see the stars."

Pidge thought for a moment. "Okay."

Once again with the help of their handy-dandy VIP badges, they were settled into a cart quickly, and soon, they were being lifted into the air.

"Wow." Pidge breathed, hand pressed against the window. "I didn't realize the fair was _that_ big."

"Well, it is part of their culture, right?" Lance remarked.

They spent a few dobashes pointing out constellations and giving them names, since they were so far away from their galaxy and they couldn't see their own.

Pidge was acutely aware of how close Lance was, the cart was small, so her shoulder brushed against his every time one of them moved, sending bolts of electricity through her.

She didn't know how long she'd be able to keep it together before she'd start to freak out. She didn't _do_ these kind of things, she wasn't _used_ to this kind of stuff, why did her heart heart flutter whenever they made eye contact, why did his smile always snap her out of her thoughts like it was the only thing that mattered in the universe, why did her heart insist on pounding out of her chest whenever he was close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from his body, the warmth of his breath?

It was confusing and it didn't make sense, and she was downright terrified of it.

"You okay?" his voice, oh God _his voice_. Always distracted her, always pulled her away from what she was doing.

"Y-Yeah." she said, hoping the darkness hid the blushing red in her cheeks.

"You kinda spaced out there for a tick. What're you thinking about?"

 _You,_ she wanted to say, but she couldn't. So she blurted, "I was thinking of home."

"Oh."

God damnit, not what she wanted.

Silence stretched between them.

Lance chuckled, "You know, this whole day has been reminding me of home. This place is just so _Earth_ -like. The first thing I'm going to do when I get home is take my sisters to the fair again." he paused. "If they want to. They're probably older now though. Quiznak."

"How old were they when you left?" Pidge asked.

"Fifteen and thirteen. _Dios_ , how much time has passed? How long have we been out here?"

Pidge frowned. "I don't know, Lance. It's just been... well, it's been a long time."

"Once this war ends and we get back to Earth, I'm taking my _whole_ family to the fair."

"I'm sure they'll love it."

Lance looked up at her, but she couldn't see his face. "Do you want to do this again? When we get back to Earth?"

And there he goes again, sending all her rational thoughts down the drain and tugging her feelings to the surface.

She fingered the hem of her shirt. "I mean, if you want to. I _did_ have fun today..."

He took her hand. Pidge felt like her heart leapt out of her chest. Like before, his hand was warm, his grip gentle, like water lapping softly on her skin. It made her face flare and _what was he doing?_

"Pidge," he started, but his voice was _off_. Was he nervous? "I... well, there's no easy way to say this, but I've been thinking about it for a long time and well... I... you... _quiznak_ , uh, I've been thinking about us." he rushed quickly.

And Pidge wasn't an idiot. She knew what he was trying to say.

"And, uh... I-"

She grabbed him by his jacket and yanked him into a kiss.

It was awkward at first. They bumped noses, and Pidge honestly had no idea what she was doing. It was _dark_ , it wasn't like she could see. But Lance seemed to have some semblance of knowledge in this department because his lips brushed hers.

It was barely a touch, feather-light, but it sent bolts of electricity down her spine and she closed the distance immediately. She let Lance take the lead, because obviously he knew more about this than she did, and tried to mimic what he was doing.

His hand reached up to cup her cheek, so in turn she snaked her arms around his neck, tilting her head like she's seen in movies. Her lips were a different story, however.

She knew she was supposed to move them, but _how_ exactly, she didn't know. Lance seemed to take amusement in this discovery because he broke the kiss and grinned against her lips.

"First time?"

"Fucking shut up."

He chuckled, planting another to the side of her mouth. "It's fine. Mine too."

Pidge pulled back a bit, wide-eyed. "Wait, seriously?"

"What?"

"It's just, with all the girls you flirt with - never mind."

He captured her lips again, this time the kiss was short and sweet.

"You're the only girl I want to be with." he whispered when they broke apart and Pidge resisted the urge to shudder.

 _Damn, he was good..._

The Farris wheel she'd forgotten they were on stopped, and a tick later the door to the cart was flung open.

She and Lance reluctantly parted, faces burning with embarrassment, and exited the cart. The Naltinian employees didn't even cast them a second glance. Apparently, they were used to this.

Pidge reached out and grabbed Lance's hand as they walked. He smiled at her - she could actually see him now with the fair lights - and intertwined their fingers.

"Hunk is going to implode when he finds out."

Lance shook his head. "He called it from the beginning."

Pidge raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

All requests to elaborate were dropped when he bent down and pecked her quickly, too quick for her to kiss back. She growled angrily at him.

Lance laughed, and the anger dispersed immediately. "What? It's rare for me to find something you're not good at. I'm milking it while I can."

"Milk it good, because I'm going to learn, and I'm going to learn well." Pidge promised.

It was Lance's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Oh?"

She let go of his hand, stood on her tiptoes, grabbed his jacket and pulled him down. His surprise yelp was halted by her lips. She let him go, leaving him dazed.

She smirked, interlacing their fingers again. "You know I learn fast."

* * *

 **And that's a wrap! I hope I did an alright job. Thank you for reading!**


End file.
